New tent!

I bought a new tent! It's a Vaude Hogan XT, bought off eBay. It arrived last week, and I put it up in the garden this evening. It's so long! I didn't really expect it to be as long as it is - it fills up the whole garden! It's very exciting as it's made of this funny slippery siliconised material, which is really lightweight. I haven't quite made up my mind whether I think this is a better design compared with my last tent - a Vaude Mark II which was a 3 man tent with doors at either end. We'll have to wait and see how this one does in a storm. I think it'll be quite sweaty - I don't see how this material is as breathable as the other stuff. Camping anyone?

Nettle Soup

Last night I thought I'd give this a try - wild food and all that!

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Lady Ridley's Nettle Soup:

Ingredients:

1 lb potatoes
½ lb young nettles
2 oz butter
1½ pts chicken or vegetable stock
sea salt & black pepper
4 tablespoons sour cream

Method:

Cook the peeled, chopped potatoes for 10 mins in salted water. Drain.

Wash & chop coarsely the nettles (Only pick the new, young tops,using gloves!)

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the nettles and stew gently for a few minutes. Add the potatoes and heated stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender.

When all is soft, cool slightly & purée in a blender, adding seasoning and the sour cream.

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I made it last night, and can tell you that it is very green. Looks green, tastes green. Kind of like a mixture of grass and herb. Not unpleasant but I am not sure that I would want to eat it every day. However if there was nothing else to eat then it's fine!!